Alcohol Consumption in Selected European Countries

Abstract

Background: Alcohol is the most widespread psychoactive substance with negative direct and indirect effects on both the consumer and his broad environment. Compared to the rest of the world, alcohol consumption in Europe is generally high, but large disparities persist in consumption levels and patterns. Aims: This paper assesses alcohol consumption in Europe from the perspective of recorded per capita alcohol consumption and self-reported drinking patterns. Our aim is to combine information from multiple data sources to reveal similarities and differences in drinking, including gender, educational, and income disparities. Data and methods: WHO and OECD data was used to measure alcohol consumption. Drinking patterns, including heavy episodic drinking, were analysed based on the European Health Interview Survey from 2014, which has recently been made accessible online. Descriptive analysis, frequencies, and correlations were used as analytical tools. Results: Alcohol consumption levels have homogenized across Europe and decreased in many countries to rank between 6 and 12 litres of pure alcohol per capita in 2016. Several patterns of regular and episodic drinking were identified with respect to gender, educational, and income disparities. In most countries however, men drink more than women, and the more educated and better situated drink more and are riskier with their alcohol consumption than the poor with low education. Conclusions: Two trends arise from our analysis: compared to the past, alcohol consumption has stabilized at much lower levels, and there are no signs of a future dramatic increase in consumption. However, the spread of alcohol in well-situated populations and excessive female drinking in countries with high gender equity suggests that alcohol reducing policies should also aim at higher social groups.